British trade union, Unite has warned that potential redundancies could take place at five ABN feed mills following the animal feed company losing a large supply contract last year.
According to Unite, ABN were informed that it had lost its contract with 2 Ag (formally 2 Sisters) in April 2025 after the company decided to stop purchasing from ABN and start producing feed with their own mills.
The trade union highlighted that the loss of this contract could make over 500 jobs redundant at five different ABN sites, all of which used to supply feed to 2 Ag.
These workers are based at animal feed mills in Yorkshire, Devon, Lancashire, Oxfordshire, and Cumbria, with the jobs at risk including mill operatives, drivers, and engineers.
Unite
The trade union outlined that ABN only alerted them of this situation between August and September last year and it reportedly took until November before Unite “actually learned of the size of the problem”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham claimed that ABN “is treating its worker with contempt” by keeping them in the dark over the future of the firm.
She said: “Dedicated workers should not be treated in this manner.
“ABN must come clean and tell workers what the future holds.”
Unite stated that it has met with ABN several times regarding the situation, however the animal feed company was not able to offer “any clarity on what the timescales will be.”
ABN
Adrian Jones, a national officer with Unite, noted that one of the trade union’s members has over 42 years of service with ABN and reportedly “feels totally let down by the company.”
Adrian said: “ABN is not a small company – it is part of Associated British Foods that also owns Primark; a firm of this size should be able to do the right thing for its workforce and have the decency to be transparent about their futures.
“We are demanding that the company sets clear deadlines for decisions to be made and to support our members properly.
“We believe that the company doesn’t want to pay for redundancies so are holding onto workers so they will go to another company and be their problem; Unite will not stand for such behaviour,” he added.
Feed mills
Unite listed the five sites which ABN currently has “on the market”:
- Sherburn – AD Plant;
- Cullompton;
- Bury;
- Enstone;
- Langwathby.
The trade union noted that the Flixborough site “has already had a reduction in staff through voluntary redundancy”, with the remaining ABN sites not being affected by this situation.
